1992 · Invented hypertext authoring program
Two years before the commercial internet boom, Matterform created a hypertext authoring system called “Cylinder.” It was a pre-internet technology that let desktop users create hypertext applications with links and embedded images and many of the features that later came to be associated with the World Wide Web.
1993 · Enhanced the hypertext interface
Matterform invented an interface device for Cylinder called QBullets, tiny icons used next to hypertext links to indicate their meaning. In 1995, Herrick adapted QBullets for the World Wide Web and released a freeware collection on the new Matterform Web site. Even today, QBullets and QBullet imitations continue to be featured on thousands of Web sites around the world.
1994 · Pioneered Web site navigation
Matterform created its first Web site for its first commercial Web client, a Santa Fe gallery. The new site featured navigational buttons at the top of every page, making a true Web “site” rather than just a collection of Web “pages.” While it seems obvious in retrospect, this was a unique innovation in 1994. When the site first appeared on the NCSA Mosaic What’s New page (the only “search engine” around in those days) there were fewer than 500 Web sites in the entire world.